


Merry Go Round

by ohheykat



Category: The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin
Genre: F/F, TW: Conversion Therapy mention, TW: Domestic Violence, TW: Homophobia, farm life, small town, tw: abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:00:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28420584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohheykat/pseuds/ohheykat
Summary: When Kaylee Klein gets caught with a girl, her parents are furious. They pack up everything and move to Edgewater, a town in the middle of nowhere. There's no internet, no phone, and no information to be found. All she knows is that she is set to marry Nick Boomer as soon as she graduates, this town sucks, and there's a really pretty farm girl living down the road.
Relationships: Kaylee/Shelby (The Prom Musical)
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi! welcome to this stupid idea that I had, thanks tpd

Eight hours. Kaylee Klein had been in the car for eight hours, and all she knew was that she had no cellphone, her head hurt, and she was seriously starting to feel carsick. A week earlier, she had been caught with a girl, and the next day she had been locked in her room until the day that her father shoved her into a car. They were going to meet someone named Nick Boomer. That was all the information that she had.

Her head still hurts as they pull into a driveway of a small, ranch style house. She says nothing as she helps her parents unload the car, but she’s shocked to find the house already furnished as she walks in. “Where’s our old stuff?” she asks, finding her voice for the first time in weeks.

“You’re sick, Kaylee,” her mom says softly, ruffling her hair. “We had to get rid of everything that might make you worse.”

“This is gonna be good for us,” her dad comments, walking in the door with a box of family photos. “All of us. We need to heal as a family.”

Kaylee doesn’t say anything else, just silently follows as her mom leads her to her room. As Mrs. Klein opens the door, her eyes widen as she sees the room in front of her. Everything,  _ everything _ is pink. In all honesty, Kaylee thinks it looks like a room made for someone at least ten years younger than her, from the teddy bear sitting on the bed, to the baby pink dresser and desk against the wall. “Do you like it?” her mother asks. “I picked out everything myself.”

“It’s lovely,” the young girl lies, setting down her stuff as she hears her father call out for her.

Returning to the living room, she sees a teenage boy standing in the doorway, with what could only be called a shit eating grin on his face. “Hello Kaylee,” he says, and his voice is acidic. “I’m Nick.”

As she goes to shake his hand, he kisses hers, sending a shiver up her spine. “Hello,” she whispers, completely unsure of herself for the first time.

“I’ll be taking you around town today,” he smirks. “Please, follow me.”

She looks back at her parents for something, anything to get out of this, but they’re both grinning as they encourage her to leave. The two teenagers begin to walk outside towards Nick’s truck, and as soon as they climb in, he leans in to kiss her. “What the fuck are you doing?” Kaylee screams, and immediately she is met with a slap in the face.

“Don’t ever embarrass me in front of your parents like that again!” Nick yells, as the young girl brings a hand up to the now red skin. “Don’t you get it girl? You’re mine now, and you’d better start acting like it!”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” she can’t help it, her sass gets the best of her, and she cries out as Nick grabs her wrist and twists the skin.

“Yer gon’ be my little wife,” he sneers, twisting even more as she continues to cry. “That’s why yer parents have sent ya here. I’m to fix you.”

Kaylee gasps as he finally lets go, rubbing her wrist the other hand as she processes what he just said. He finally starts the truck, and the two of them ride in silence as they pull up on a large house surrounded by land. “This is where I live,” he doesn’t put the car into park. “And over there, in that house down the road, that’s where Shelby Gonzales lives. She was to be my wife, but her father made a deal with Kevin Shield’s father too. They’re crooked people.”

Kaylee nods, though she really has no clue what’s going on, and Nick continues to drive. He shows her everything, and she begins to take mental notes of everything. There’s one restaurant, and surprisingly enough it isn’t a McDonalds. There’s a slave market by the park, like an actual slave market, but Nick assures her that it hasn’t been used in years. By the time they return home, she’s exhausted, though she really couldn’t tell why. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he whispers, kissing her softly. This time, she doesn’t pull away.

Instead of walking back into her house, Kaylee decides to wait until Nick is out of the driveway before beginning to walk down the road. She watches his truck go past his driveway, so she decides to walk into it. She bypasses his house and walks towards the house he claimed was owned by “crooks.” Knocking on the door, the young girl rocks back and forth on her heels nervously until it’s open. “Well hello,” an older woman answers the door. “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure yet.”

“Oh, uh, hi,” Kaylee stammers nervously, fiddling with her fingers. “I’m Kaylee Klein. We just moved in down the street, and I wanted to introduce myself.”

“Well that just dills my pickle! Come on in Ms. Kaylee,” she grins, stepping away to let Kaylee step in.

As she does so, she takes in all of the sights around her. There’s a man in the living room, watching football, with a boy who couldn’t be older than ten sitting near him. There’s a girl at the kitchen table in the next room over, scribbling into a notebook. The girl looks as if she could be Kaylee’s age, but it’s hard to tell. “Shelby Grace!” Mrs. Gonzales says, and the girl looks up. “Why don’t you come introduce yourself?”  
The girl doesn’t complain, just shuts her work and gets up to greet Kaylee. “Nice to meet you, I’m Shelby Grace, but most people just call me Shelby.”

“Nonsense!” Mrs. Gonzales scolds. “Your name is Shelby Grace, and therefore that is what you’ll be called.”

“Mama,” Shelby groans, but she stops as soon as she sees her mother’s death stare. “Anyway, what’s your name?”

“Kaylee,” she can’t quite figure out why it’s so hard to talk to this girl. 

“I gotta get going,” the curly haired girl says, beginning to walk away to pack her stuff. “I’m supposed to meet Kevin in the stables.”

“Take James Wyatt with you,” the mother snaps her fingers, and the young boy who had been sitting on the couch immediately gets up. “And take Kaylee! Show her the stables. She’s our neighbor, god knows she’ll be spending a lot of time down there.”  
“Mama,” she whines again.

“Don’t pitch a fit,” she shakes her head, then puts her hand on Kaylee’s back. “Honey, I promise she idn’t always like this. She’ll come around.”

As soon as her mom turns around, Shelby rolls her eyes and jerks her little brother’s arm. The three kids walk outside, and as soon as they do, Shelby pulls out her wallet. “Twenty dollars to fuck off?” she asks her brother, and he nods excitedly as she hands him the bill.

“Do I need to go?” Kaylee asks as he runs in the other direction.

“Nah, I don’t mind you.”

She smiles softly, and Shelby continues to lead her down a path. When they reach the stables, a boy with light brown hair pokes his head out to say hello. “Hey Shelbs!” his voice is almost bubbly as he steps out. “Who’s your friend?”

“She ain’t my friend yet,” Shelby shakes her head, and all three of them walk inside. “She just moved in down the street.”

“Nice to meet you,” he says, sticking out his hand. “I’m Kevin, Shelby’s boyfriend.”

Something about that sentence makes Kaylee deflate, and she can’t really tell why. “So, you wanna learn how to ride?” Shelby asks, pulling one of the horses out of the stall. 

“Oh no, I’m okay,” Kaylee says quickly. “Honestly, once my parents get the internet set up I probably won’t have time, I like to research and learn a lot.”

“Internet? We don’t have internet here,” Kevin sounds amused as he says it. “I mean, the library does, but it’s all monitored.”

“What do you mean this town doesn’t have internet?” Kaylee asks, her eyes darting from Shelby to Kevin. 

“There’s no internet,” he repeats. “How many times do I gotta say it before it gets through your thick skull?”

“I’m gonna die here,” Kaylee moans, sliding down the wall and bringing her knees up to her chest.

“Yer not gon’ die,” Shelby laughs a little at her, and her southern twang is almost comforting. “I promise you, ain’t no one ever die from lack of internet.”

As she sits next to her, the young Latina can’t help but notice the bruise on the new girl’s wrist. “What happened there?” she picks it up, and she doesn’t seem phased when Kaylee winces.

“I fell unpacking,” she says quickly, snatching her wrist away.

“Ah, I did that once,” Shelby laughs a little. “Tripped over one of the stable cats and fell into that wall over there.”

“Stable cats?”

“You ain’t never heard of a stable cat? You really are a city slicker.”

“Hey!”

“That there’s Bandit,” Shelby points to the tabby cat laying on top of one of the stall doors. “His name used to be Bandana, but we changed it when he kept taking all the food meant for the horses.”

“Why Bandana?”

“Well the other one’s Sweater, we got a theme going. Now this lil lady is Josephine, and right there you got Appie. We got an empty stall on account of Kevin getting a horse once we get married in the fall.”

“Y’all are getting married? Isn’t that a little young?”

“Ain’t you marrying Boomer right after graduation?”

“Well, yeah, but...”

“But what? Your parents arranged it? How do you think the rest of us got engaged? You ain’t the only one with problems, Klein.”

“Oh yeah, my mama told me you’re marrying that Boomer kid,” Kevin shakes his head. “Didn’t seem the type for him, no offense. Never saw him with no city girl.”

“I’m not a city girl,” Kaylee protests, whining a bit.

“Oh bless your heart,” Shelby climbs onto the horse Kevin was brushing. “I’ll be seeing you two in a bit.”

“Shelby, I’m not-“ but the horse is already walking out of the stable, and Kevin rolls his eyes as he throws the brush down. “Fucking bitch.”

“You don’t like her, do you?”

“I’m marrying her, ain’t I?”

“Aren’t you worried you won’t love her?”

“You telling me y’all marry for love where yer from?” Kevin rolls his eyes, beginning to brush the other horse, who Kaylee remembered was called Appie. “No one marries for love here. We marry fer money, some fer power. My deddy had me marry Shelby on account of the share of the farm I’d get.”

“That seems… wrong,” Kaylee says slowly, to which Kevin just shrugs. 

“Just the way of the world, I reckon.”

As the conversation comes to a halt, Kaylee realizes just how much she doesn’t want to go home. Quickly, she racks her brain for something to keep it going. “What do you know about Nick Boomer?”

“He’s lower than a snake’s belly in a wagon rut,” Kevin shakes his head, continuing to brush the horse.

“Huh?”  
“He thinks the sun comes up just to hear him crow!”

“Come again?”

“God, do y’all city kids know nuthin? He’s selfish, and he don’t care for anyone but hisself. You’re lucky to get in a single word if he’s in a mood.”

“That’s for sure,” Kaylee mumbles, glancing at her wrist.

“Listen, I ain’t sure a much in this town, but I’m sure of one thing. Nick Boomer’s bout the grossest scum here, and he’s dumb enough that he wouldn’t be able to find his ass with both hands in his back pockets.”

Kaylee, though still confused, laughs a little as he says this, but then he looks down at her gravely. “I ain’t kidding. Maybe I shouldn’t call him stupid though, ‘cause rumor is it the last girl he was s’posed to marry, Winnie I think was her name, well she done disappeared once she called off the weddin. Some folks say he killed her, others say he held her hostage. Either way, I wouldn’t wanna be in your shoes.”

_ Well, shit. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow Nick's an ass. Didn't see that coming huh?

“You look so cute!” Mrs. Klein says as she ties a bow into Kaylee’s hair. “Everyone at school is gonna be so jealous when they see you!”

“I’m sure,” Kaylee mumbles, trying not to cringe at her reflection in the mirror.

_ I’m not sure what’s worse _ , she thinks to herself.  _ The fact that I’m wearing pigtails on my first day of a new school, or the fact that I have to go with Nick. _

When her mom finishes dressing her, she very quickly heads out the door, already tugging the hairbands out of her pigtails as soon as the door closes. “What the fuck are you wearing?” Nick asks, and he sounds angry.

“My mother picked it out,” she rolls her eyes, and he glares at her. 

“You can’t dress yourself?”

“No, I can! I just don’t have the choice right now.”

“Mama’ll be dropping off some more appropriate outfits for you tonight,” he puts the truck into drive, and they say nothing until they pull into the school. “Alright, here’s how today’s gonna go. I took the liberty of arranging Alyssa Greene to show you around the school. Her mama’s the mayor, so you best be on your best behavior. Alyssa is our class president, so she don’t tolerate no funny business. At lunch, you find me, and you sit with me and my friends. You don’t make no trouble, you hear?”

“Yes sir.”

“I could get used to that,” his shit eating grin is back, and Kaylee has to stop herself from rolling her eyes.

They get out of the truck, and as soon as Kaylee walks in she is met with a thousand stares. It only takes a minute for a girl with curly brown hair to sweep her up. “Kaylee Klein?” she asks, and she grins as soon as Kaylee nods. “I’m Alyssa Greene, it’s nice to meet you. Nick asked me to show you around.”

Kaylee nods, trying to assess the girl standing next to her. “Babe,” a brunette boy comes up behind her, putting an arm around her waist. “I gotta show you something after school. Who’s this?”

“This is Kaylee Klein,” Alyssa grins as he shakes Kaylee’s hand. “Kaylee, this is my boyfriend, Greg. I think you’re actually in the same homeroom.”

“Oh, fun!” she wants to sound enthusiastic, but was everyone in this town taken? It felt like everyone she had met was getting married soon.

Alyssa shows her everything in the school, which honestly wasn’t much. The school was tiny, and the few hallways in it held even fewer classrooms. Her final stop before homeroom is in front of what only looks like a closet. “What is this?”

“I need you to come back here after school,” Alyssa’s voice is different now, more urgent. “I can’t really explain why right now. You just need to be here.”

“But Nick, he’s my ride-”

“You can’t tell Nick,” now her voice is hushed, and she’s rushing to get all of the words out before the bell rings. “I’ll drive you home, just be here- Greg!”

Her boyfriend, who happened to be walking by, stops and pulls her in for another hug. “Yes darling?”

“Walk Kaylee to class,” she says quickly, not even bothering to acknowledge him before she rushes in the other direction.

“Well, someone’s in a hurry,” he laughs a little. “C’mon, Mr. Glickman isn’t too strict about being late anyways, so he’ll be fine if we’re a little behind.”

Kaylee nods, and she follows the boy to a classroom. Inside, she sees Shelby, but no Kevin and, thankfully, no Nick. quickly, she takes the empty seat next to Shelby, who smiles slightly at her as their teacher comes to the front of the room. Maybe things weren’t going to be so bad.

The day goes by in a blur, until lunch finally rolls around. Kaylee sits next to Nick, who dotes on her and kisses her softly, acting nothing like he does when they’re alone. She hates admitting it, but she loves it as he plays with her hair. 

At the end of the day, she lies to him and says that she has a meeting with their acting teacher, Mr. Oliver, and instead heads towards the closet that Alyssa had shown her. When she’s sure no one is watching, she quickly sneaks in, and she’s shocked at what she sees.

Sitting in a few chairs scattered around the room are Alyssa, Greg, Shelby, Kevin, and two girls that she doesn’t know. “What the fuck?” she asks out loud.

“Welcome to the unruly hearts club,” Shelby laughs, and Kaylee just stares at her. “Oh honey, we all know why you’re here.”

“Word spreads fast in this tiny town,” Greg adds, taking his seat next to Emma. “You’ve found your people hun.”

“What is this place?”

“A band closet,” Alyssa locks the door. “But it also doubles as the best meeting room ever.”

“The best meeting room for what?”

“Gosh darn, we just told you!” Kevin shakes his head. “You really don’t listen huh? This is the unruly hearts club!”

“Yeah okay, I got that part,” she can’t help it, she’s pissed at this point. “What the fuck is that?”

“Slow down little lady,” Shelby gets up, grabbing Kaylee by the arm and leading her to one of the chairs. “You look like you might jerk a knot in ‘Lyssa’s tail.”

“What does that even mean?” she asks, exasperated.

“It means you look pissed,” the blonde girl that she doesn’t know the name of speaks up. “I’m Emma, president of the unruly hearts club-”

“Who made you president?” Greg asks, and Emma simply shrugs. 

“I did when I started the damn thing. Anyways, Kaylee, their speak gets a little easier to understand after a while. None of it makes sense, but you understand it.”

“You don’t talk like them?”

“Oh no, I’m here for the same reason you are, more or less. My parents sent me and Greg here packing when they found out we were both gay.”

“You’re gay?!”

“As a bucket of wigs,” Greg responds.

“But, I thought you were dating Alyssa-”

“Yeah, that’s what we gotta explain. Why don’t you sit down? We’ll tell you everything.”

It takes nearly a half hour to get through the entire story. The town, forty years prior, had been founded to keep “conservative, Christian marriage” alive. People who didn’t want their children to be gay, or were worried they had been exposed to homosexuals, moved here to keep everything under wraps. That’s why there was no internet.

Alyssa’s mother was the mayor. She was the first woman to hold the office, but she was stricter than any man had ever been. There was now a curfew for both adults and teenagers, a dress code, and mandatory town meetings for every citizen. She expected Alyssa to be a model child, but in reality she was one of the most rebellious in town. She had begun dating Emma Nolan, the blonde who started the unruly hearts club in the first place. 

Emma, herself, was a legend among the town. She had been kicked out of her home by her parents and sent to live in Edgewater at only age eleven, a record that was unheard of. Greg, her cousin, had followed suit three years later. Surprisingly enough, neither of them had picked up the accent. The girl was known for being arrested six times, mostly for vandalism, while the boy was more known for working at the gas station and following the rules. And, despite the fact that their grandmother had lived here for nearly thirty years, she was the kindest woman that any of the teenagers had ever met. 

Shelby’s story had a bit more history than any of the others. Her mother had been sent to the town when she was only sixteen, was married off to her father, and proceeded to have Shelby and her brother very young. They decided to raise Shelby and, later, her brother in the very same town they met in, but they were to move when Shelby turned sixteen. This plan, however, was scrapped when Shelby got caught making out with Carrie, a girl that used to live on her farm. Her parents decided from that day forward they would live in Edgewater forever, and immediately began courting their fifteen-year-old daughter.

Which was where Kevin came in. Kevin Shield had been in a similar situation as Shelby, with his parents being born and raised here. The thing is, they didn’t have a clue that Kevin was gay, as he had learned to put on a front pretty early on. However, his family was poor, and without farming land they would be forced to move pretty soon after his little brothers were born. Fortunately for them, this happened to be just as Shelby’s parents decided to court her. With Kevin’s promised share of the farm, they were golden. 

The final piece of the puzzle was Jess Monae, who sat on the floor near Emma, her head resting against the blonde’s legs. Jess had been raised there, but her girlfriend had not been. Two years earlier, Winnie Thompson had come flying into Edgewater, quiet and reserved. She was to marry Nick, Kaylee’s Nick. Everything was going according to his master plan, until Winnie fell in love with Jess. She called off the wedding only a week before it was supposed to happen, and no one had seen her since. Jess got real quiet when she said that part.

“So we formed a club,” Emma says softly, tears brimming in her eyes as she remembers Winnie. “For everyone who’s heart loves in a way the world just doesn’t understand.”

“Whoa.”

“And now you’re a part of it,” Shelby says, reaching out to hold her hand. “You can be yourself here. We’ll keep you safe.”

Kaylee isn’t sure why, but she believes her.

* * *

“Where the fuck were you?” Nick’s waiting in her driveway when Alyssa drops her off at home. “Didn’t you know you’re supposed to come to my house for dinner?”

“I’m sorry, Alyssa was showing me around and I-”

His hand comes at her fast, like a bullet, fist clenched as he punches her right eye. Kaylee gasps, breath knocked out of her as he pushes her onto the ground and kicks her when she doesn’t get up. “Fuck you!” he screams, climbing back into his truck. "You better be at dinner at six!"

It takes Kaylee a moment to gather her bearings and process what’s happened. By the time she sits up, hot tears are pouring down her face, and her whole body hurts. Slowly, she makes her way over to the one place she knows is safe. Shelby’s Stables.

When she gets there, she notices that Josephine isn’t there, which likely means that Shelby’s riding. Instead of turning around, she climbs onto the hay loft, finding comfort in the darkness as she lies down. Nearly an hour passes before she hears the horse return to the stable, and she calls out. “Kaylee?” Shelby sounds confused, and Kaylee can’t blame her. “Are you up there?”

“Mhm.”

“You okay?” Shelby asks, her voice softer than normal as she climbs onto the hayloft.

“Yeah.”

“Quit lying. I already knew the answer to my question.”

Kaylee turns to face her, and Shelby sees the bruise on her face, and the way she winces when the curly haired girl touches it gently. “He did that?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m gonna fucking kill him.”

Kaylee moves so that she can lay her head in Shelby’s lap, and the older girl doesn’t move. She simply sits and strokes her hair, humming softly as the wind whistles in the distance. “He did this to Winnie too,” she whispers after some time. “I should have taken care of it then, but I didn’t.”

“It’s okay.”

“No it’s not,” she sighs, then has an idea. “Do you wanna learn how to ride? I could show you on Josephine. She’s easy, hardly ever bucks nobody.”

“Oh, uh, sure,” though she had denied it the day before, Kaylee couldn’t help but feel butterflies in her stomach at the idea of Shelby teaching her. 

“You stay here, I’ll tell Mama we’ve got company for dinner and get you some ridin clothes from the house. I’ll be faster than a knife fight in a phone booth.”

Kaylee laughs a little, but sits up so Shelby can leave. When she returns, she helps the city girl into the riding clothes, then begins to saddle up Josephine again. “It’s real simple,” she promises as she helps Kaylee climb on. “I’mma lead her with this rope, and all you gotta do is stay still. We won’t try nothin’ fancy today, just hold tight.”

“Got it,” Kaylee’s determined to make a good impression.

For a little while, it goes smoothly. Kaylee and Shelby are exchanging stories and laughing like old friends as Shelby pulls Josephine along. The horse seems happy. 

Then James Wyatt comes out of nowhere.

Shelby lets go of the rope for one second to stop him from running straight in front of the damn horse, which somehow spooks Josephine enough that she bucks. Kaylee hits the dirt with a thud, and Shelby scrambles to get the horse before she can cause any more damage. “James Wyatt you idiot! Go get Dad!” she yells, quickly tying the horse to a fence post. “Kaylee?”

Kaylee doesn’t want to open her eyes. Her head hurts so badly. She feels cool hands on her face and neck, and when she finally peaks, she can see Shelby looking concerned down at her. “Are you alright? What hurts?” Kaylee wonders how many times she’s been bucked off a horse, yet she still seems so worried.

“Head,” she mumbles, shutting her eyes again as the light becomes too much.

“Fuck,” Shelby’s terrified voice scares Kaylee more than being bucked did. “Alright, don’t move. I mean it now. I’m not gonna leave your side ‘til Dad gets out here, but you can’t move a muscle. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Shelby’s dad is there in a matter of minutes, first-aid kit ready. Shelby backs off and lets him look at her, but Kaylee barely registers what’s happening. “She’s concussed,” he says after a few minutes. “It doesn’t look bad, but I’m a hundred percent sure she is. Let’s get her back up to the house, and when your mom gets back with the car you should drive her home. Tell her parents what happened.”

“Okay,” Shelby says, turning her full attention back to Kaylee. “Can you stand up?”

“I dunno,” she mumbles, so Shelby takes it as a no.

Instead of even letting her attempt to walk, she simply lifts the younger girl into her arms, before carrying her up to the house. “You’re strong,” Kaylee comments as Shelby lays her in her bed.

“I work on a farm, hon,” she responds, carefully pulling her fingers through her hair. 

“Shelby!” her dad interrupts their moment. “There’s someone outside for you!”

“The fuck?” she asks herself, before heading down the stairs. 

When she gets outside, she comes face to face with Nick Boomer. “Where’s my fiance?”

“Upstairs in my room-”

He doesn’t let her finish her sentence, just pushes past her and into the house. Somehow, he knows exactly where to go, and he bursts into Shelby’s room without so much as knocking. “You were supposed to be at dinner thirty minutes ago!” he screams, voice angry as he clenches his fists. 

Kaylee sits up suddenly, too suddenly, and puts her head in her hands. “Chill the fuck out,” Shelby scolds, sitting next to her friend and rubbing her back. “She’s got a concussion.”  
“What the fuck do you mean concussion?” Nick is angry, and when he goes to grab Kaylee’s wrist, Shelby swats him away.

“I mean she has a fucking concussion, get it through your thick skull,” how could she have been so blind? Nick Boomer was dangerous.

“Shelby, it’s okay,” Kaylee’s voice is barely above a whisper, and Shelby protectively puts her arm around her.

“I’m taking her home,” the young Latina says, and you can tell just by her voice how fiercely protective she is. She stands up, and so does Kaylee in an attempt to diffuse the situation.

“Like hell you are!” Nick shoves Shelby to the floor, but Kaylee goes with her.

Kaylee cries out as she hits the ground, and Shelby scrambles to get her into her arms. “Nick, listen to me,” she doesn’t raise her voice, she knows it’ll get her nowhere. “Kaylee has a severe concussion. If you hurt her anymore, it’s going to kill her. Do you want a murder charge on your hands?”

“I didn’t get one for Winnie, did I?” he sneers, slamming the door as he leaves the room.


End file.
